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DT 933 
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SOUTH AFRICA 




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Geo. W. Bond, Chicago 

1900 



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1900 






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SOUTH AFRICA. 

An Illustrated Lecture by James Martin Miller. 



Ladies and Gentlemen: 

It need not be told an American audience that there is no teacher of 
geography, history and kindred subjects, equal to war. 

What each one here this evening knew about the Philippine Islands 
before the war with Spain began was not very much. Now you read 
and study with intense interest everything about these far-off islands. 
The new relations in which the United States found herself so suddenly 
involved with the West and East Indies, lead many of our citizens to 
face the general history of colonization, and especially to investigate the 
extraordinary place which colonization has occupied in the development 
of British commerce and influence throughout the whole world during 
the last hundred years. 

It is not too much to say that a large number of Americans have 
come to understand the growth of the British Empire more sympathet- 
ically since they see in their own case how a great people can be im- 
pelled on in her historic development by circumstances and forces seem- 
ingly beyond her resistance. 

The shallow notion that Great Britain has conquered territory all 
over the world, merely through greed, and cruelty and oppression, is 
rapidly being relegated to the limbo already so well occupied of popular 
prejudices and international misunderstanding. 

*In 1620 two ships belonging to and English trading company hoisted the British flag 
where Cape Town is now located, and took formal possession. When the action was 
reported to the British government, it disapproved and no further steps were taken to 
carry out the policy of the trading company in annexing the territory, 

In 1652 the first permanent settlement was made by the Dutch East 
India Company, with the full consent of their government. The crew 
of the ship which had been wrecked had spent some months on the very 
spot where Cape Town now stands; they had planted a few seeds, had 
found the climate pleasant, the soil productive, and soon reported their 
happy experience to the authorities in the homeland, Holland. 

*They were not considered as colonists in the ordinary sense; they were all servants 
of the East India Company, living there in order to facilitate the movements of their great 
merchant fleets. It was found necessary, however, at a later date, to have the land in the 
immediate neighborhood of the fort, parcelled out into farms, and to give these over to 
colonists of another type. 

Toward the end of the seventeenth century, the number of the colon - 
. ists were very largely reinforced by the arrival of French and Swiss Pro- 



*If the lecture is too long, this may be omitt j:1. 



2 SOUTH AFRICA. 

testants, who, having fled from persecution in their own countries to 
Holland, were sent out, with their own consent, to the Cape. These 
new arrivals added elements of the greatest value to the little Dutch 
community. To them is traced the beginning of the grape culture, fo r 
which Cape Town has since become so famous. The French families 
became gradually absorbed, and soon lost all direct relationship with 
their own country. 

*At first these European settlers came into contact with the natives of South Africa in 
the trading of cattle and sheep. As their numbers increased, they gradually occupied 
lands which the natives had used for the pasture of their cattle, and over this land question 
the first quarrel arose. 

To begin with the Dutch sought to buy the lands, At a later date, they gave up this 
formality and formed the habit of seizing what they wanted for their farms. At a still 
later date they even employed the former owners of the soil as their slaves in its cultivation. 
The slave movement was most unfortunately stimulated by the introduction of negro 
slaves from the west coast. 

The life which these distant settlers lived was by no means unenjoy- 
able. The climate was extremely healthy. Their habits of life were 
simple and regular. 

No. i. A Traveller's Difficulty, Oxteams. They performed their 
journeys, drawn slowly at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles a day, by 
long teams of oxen. They persevered and encountering many difficulties 
on the way as shown in the picture built their little house, tilled their 
patch of land, looked after their ever-increasing herds, fought any of the 
natives who threatened to be troublesome, and paid their rare visits 
— once or twice a year — to the nearest church for the celebration of the 
"nachtmaal" or holy communion. 

Nevertheless, the life was by no means elevating, for as they spread 
northward they became less and less an agricultural, and more and more 
a pastoral people. Their farms became larger until no one was con- 
tented with less than three miles square; they came to relish manual 
labor less and less and depended wholly upon the inefficient service of 
ignorant natives. They formed no large towns where they could con- 
gregate, and plan for their advancement and higher civilization. They 
learned to love hunting and wandering about, and took pleasure in the 
mere independence of their isolated life. 

*Towards the end of the eighteenth century, three or four European countries were 
engaged in a mighty struggle for the control and development of large portions of the 
world. It was being determined whether France, or Holland, or England should lead the 
destinies of vast regions through the nineteenth century. It was impossible that the 
importance of the Cape should remain unnoticed by these fierce contestants. 

When, after open revolution, France seized Holland and drove the Prince of Orange 
into exile in England, the British government took possession of the Cape and held it in 
trust for the Dutch prince, restoring it in 1802, In 1806 Great Britain bought several 
colonies from Holland, for which she paid about fifty million cash. One of these was 
Cape Colony. 

*If the lecture is considered too long, this may be omitted. 



SOUTH AFRICA. 3 

No. 2. Map. The Boer farmers, who in large numbers were moving 
northward, met with many strange and dreadful experiences, but large 
numbers of them settled down in regions where they enjoyed comparative 
peace and prosperity. Amongst these were the settlers in what is known 
as the Orange Free State. This region, lying north of the Great River — 
now invariably called the Orange River — and south of the Vaal River, 
has for its eastern base the remarkable highlands of Basutoland, and the 
range known as Drackenberg. The country itself consists, for the most 
part, of rolling prairies intersected with many streams. It is a rich 
farming country. 

Mr. W. T. Stead, editor of the Review of Reviews says, "The South 
African Republic was in the position of the inverted pyramid; the major- 
ity of the population, possessing more than half the land and nine-tenths 
of the wealth, and paying nineteen-twentieths of the taxes, had prac- 
tically no share in its administration and no voice in its legislature." 

No. 3. Kruger. When the pressure upon the government by this 
majority, the outlanders, became severe, President Kruger was always 
able to use one argument which he appears to have found convincing 
and effective. He warned his followers that if the foreigners had the 
franchise they would wrest the government from the Boers and hand over 
the country to Great Britain. 

It is here, that, as it would seem, President Kruger's far-famed 
shrewdness absolutely deserted him. Nothing can be more certain than 
that, if the foreigners had received the franchise, even with safe-guards 
intended to preserve the pre-eminence of the Dutch element in the 
country, the republic as then constituted would have been as strongly 
anti-British as President Kruger himself. 

There were others, however, who were not blind and who were pre- 
pared to give another turn to the course of events in the Transvaal than 
that contemplated either by Kruger or by the invading host against whom 
he fought. In the year 1895 the citizens of Johannesburg decided that 
their wrongs had reached a point which made a revolution necessary. 
Accordingly, a number of the leading spirits of the city resolved to pre- 
pare for such an event. They felt, however, their incompetence to con- 
quer the armed Boer citizens who would immediately be brought against 
them. Accordingly they looked around to discover some helper from the 
outside. 

No. 4. Cecil J. Rhodes. They appealed to the Right Honorable 
Cecil Rhodes, who was at that time the most composite political per- 
sonage on the wide earth. He was a member of the privy Council of 
Queen Victoria; he was Prime Minister of Cape Colony with his seat of 
authority in the south at Cape Town; he was also managing director of 
he British South African Chartered Company, which means that he 



4 SOUTH AFRICA. 

was practically the administrator of the vast territory ruled by that com- 
pany to the north of the Transvaal; he was also chairman of the De Beers 
Diamond Mining Company at Kimberly, which means that he was at 
the head of the largest money producing industry in Cape Colony; he was 
at the same time one of the leading capitalists of the gold mining 
industry in the Transvaal. 

As a capitalist he was personally interested in the development of 
Johannesburg; as administrator of Rhodesia he had military forces under 
his control; as Prime Minister of Cape Colony he had the ear of the High 
Commissioner of South Africa and of the British government in London. 

He knew personally and intimately many of the men engaged in the 
conspiracy at Johannesburg. He saw that if their insurrection placed 
them in power they would form a stronger independent state than 
Britain had to deal with in the present Boer government. Accordingly,, 
it seemed to him not only in the interest of the revolution, but in the 
interests also of the parties ruling in South Africa, that he, as represent- 
ative of the British, should place the new government of the Transvaal 
under deep and permanent obligations to himself. 

Mr. Rhodes made the momentous resolution to help the revolution. 
His action may be judged from different points of view. If the proposed 
insurrection was wrong, his action was wrong. If it was right the Tight- 
ness of his action depends partly upon the relative strength of the 
motives which led to his decision, and partly on the question of his 
fidelity to other authorities under whom he was placed. As to his 
motives, no man can judge; as to his integrity as an occupant of a num- 
ber of public offices, much may be said. Mr. Rhodes endeavored 
to put himself in the right in this direction by communicating at once 
with the Colonial office in London. 

No. 5. Mr. Chamberlain. Now in London the Colonial Secretary- 
was Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, one of the most striking figures in the 
history of British politics during the last twenty years. Mr Chamber- 
lain, a former Radical of the most advanced type, is a member of a Con- 
servative government. He holds his position as leader of that portion 
of the Liberal party which revolted from Gladstone on the question of 
Irish Home Rule. It is largely through the influence of himself, and of 
his companions in this revolt, that the conservative party has held sway 
so long in Great Britain. He has used his position of extraordinary 
influence with consummate skill and with inscrutable modifications of 
his Radical conscience. 

Presumably one of the chief ambitions of Mr. Chamberlain's life as 
Colonial Minister has been to distinguish his period of office by some 
great striking deed of imperial splendor. It was his duty, of course, 



SOUTH AFRICA. 5 

to keep himself thoroughly aware of everything that occurred which 
might effect in any way the prosperity of any British Colony. 

*Hence, it was his simple duty to welcome any information that might be given to 
him concerning prospective revolutions in the Transvaal. Nor was he bound by any con- 
sideration to make this information known outside his office. If he were informed that 
this revolution was inevitable and that it might be turned to a profitable account for the 
other colonies of South Africa, and for South Africa as a whole he was not bound to pub- 
lish his knowledge. 

But it is strongly suspected, indeed, Mr. Stead's pamphlets have made it practically 
certain, that Mr. Chamberlain took another step of a more serious nature. 

When Mr. Rhodes proposed to him, through a trusted messenger, 
that assistance from a British territory should be given the revolutionists 
at Johannesburg, Mr. Chamberlain seems to have acquiesced in the 
proposal, or, at least, to have agreed not to prevent it. 

Of course the forces directly under the control of the British govern- 
ment, of the War Office in London, could not be so employed. But 
Mr. Rhodes, as administrator of Rhodesia, was also master of a large 
force of efficient volunteers in that region, whose skill and valor had 
already been amply proved. 

It ought, in all fairness, to be observed that the Transvaal govern- 
ment's transactions, especially those leading to the development of the 
Republic's military resources and efficiency, were not interfered with by 
the British government even although it was only against her or her 
colonies that this military force could be exerted. It is perfectly safe to 
say that there is no other country in the world, except perhaps the 
United States, which would have allowed this development to go 
unchecked. Neither Russia, nor Germany, nor France, would have 
patiently endured these circumstances for a single year. 

*On March 28, 1897, when Sir Alfred Milner was about to leave for his position as 
High Commissioner for South Africa and Governor of Cape Colony, Mr. Chamberlain 
used the following language. "The problem before us and before him is not an insoluble 
problem. For what is it? It is to reconcile and persuade to live together in peace and 
good will two races whose common interests are immeasurably greater than any differences 
which may unfortunately exist " 

The outlanders could not long avoid the utterances of protest against the treatment 
they received. During the winter of 1898-99 affairs became rapidly complicated and 
■embittered. A small event will in such circumstances create great excitement. Such an 
event was the murder of a man named Edgar in December 1898. In itself, this was not 
sufficient in ordinary times to create any public feeling of a political nature, but it was 
like a spark of fire in a mass of the most combustible material. 

It led to the holding of a demonstration, and the arrest of Messrs. Webb and Dodd, 
two of the leading protestors. This Mr. Dodd is one of two brothers from the north of 
England, men of the lower middle class, not capitalists, not firebrands, but intelligent 
and earnest men who have been accustomed to the political freedom of their home land, 
and who by public work and preaching of the Gospel, seek at home or abroad to help 
their fellow-citizens. 



*If the lecture is considered too long, this may be omitted. 



6 SOUTH AFRICA. 

*In January, 1899, a large open meeting of the Outlanders was held in the amphitheater, 
at which speeches were being delivered when the police force interfered and dispersed the 
gathering. The excitement grew and took shape at last in the forwarding of a petition to 
the Queen, signed by 21,684 British subjects, which was forwarded through Sir Alfred 
Milner. 

President Kruger at this time made several public addresses, none of which indicated 
any serious desire to solve the problems at issue, but he welcomed a counter petition 
which he presented signed by 9,000 Outlanders. 

The union of the Orange Free State with the Transvaal Republic for 
the purpose of carrying on this war increased the difficulties of the 
British, not only by adding thousands of soldiers to the Boer army, but 
by vastly extending the frontier which must be attacked or defended. 
If we consider these two states as one, (show slide No. 2) a glance at 
the map wiil show how many hundreds of miles comprise the boundary 
line between them and the British possessions. 

Along the western border we have first Bechuanaland in the north 
and the Cape Colony from Mafeking down to the Orange Free State. 
For the southern border we have from near the point where the Kim- 
berly railroad crosses the Orange River right across to Basutoland. 
From the northeastern border of Basutoland the boundary line extends 
northward to the tip of the Natal triangle at Majuba Hill, then eastward 
and northward until the Portugese territory is reached, a little south of 
Lorenzo Marquez, near Delagoa Bay. 

Along the western and northern borders the country may be described 
in general as consisting of what in America we call prairie lands, which 
may either be perfectly flat for many long miles or change into a roll- 
ing country. This is true of a good part of the southern border of the 
Orange Free State, but as one goes eastward toward Colesberg and 
Aliwal North, the country becomes more hilly. 

Here and there on these prairie lands are scattered strange and 
characteristic eminences, which often rise quite solitary and steep from 
the level plain and which are known in South Africa as "Kopjes". 
These afford, of course, most valuable shelter for troops, are easily fort- 
ified and not easily captured. 

North of Basutoland there stretches between Natal and the Boer 
States a long and magnificient range of mountains. These are rugged 
and steep, some of the peeks rising to many thousands of feet in height. 
These are crossed at certain points by passes, through which the main 
roads of communication have been made. 

Obviously, a border like the one last described can be easily fortified 
and rendered almost impregnable against many thousands of the best 
trained troops. One of the first questions, therefore, which the world 



*If the lecture is considered too long, this may be omitted. 



SOUTH AFRICA. 7 

asked when the war was announced by the sending of the Boer ultima- 
tum to London, was at what point or points in this very extensive 
border will the invasion, or invasions, be likely to occur? 

*Closely connected with this and wilh the general problem was the inquiry as to the 
number of soldiers whom the Boers could muster for their desperate struggle. Estimates 
varied according to the basis of calculation which was adopted. Some maintained that 
they could not reach more than 30,000, while a few other extremists put in a number as 
high as 100,000 men. The latter estimate was avowedly based upon the presumption 
that the Dutch farmers of Cape Colony could be counted upon to rise in a mass and join 
their brethren of the north. 

The safest and most accurate calculation based itself upon the fact that Kruger told 
Sir Alfred Milner at Bloemfontein that he had only 30,000 Burghers exercising the vote. 
As the total Dutch population of the Transvaal is about 80,000, and the total white popu- 
lation of the Orange Free State is about the same, viz , 80,000, it is safe to calculate that 
the Free Staters would not put into the field more than the same number of men, namely, 
30,000. 

This total of 60,000 must undoubtedly be increased by the addition of several thous- 
and foreign volunteers in the Transvaal, and of the Boer volunteers from the colonies, 
which would bring up the total nominal force of the Boers to something near 70,000. 

But from that must be subtracted all those whom official duty, old age, sickness and 
other events must have prevented from entering upon active warfare. Further there must 
be subtracted at least a few thousand of the Free Staters who must be retained on their 
eastern border to watch all movements in Basutoland, prepared to meet a possible invasion 
by the fierce native Highlanders whom the Dutch have so much cause to dread. If from 
these and other causes we subtract 15,000 men, we are left with 55,000 as the utmost pos- 
sible number of soldiers whom the Boers can obtain to send into the field for actual fighting. 

These 55,000 men are, of course, almost all of them, citizen soldiers; men, whose 
ages vary from sixteen to sixty or more, and who have left their farms and the firesides to 
fight for what they feel to be the cause of liberty and justice. Already signs, not a few, 
have appeared, that many of them have entered upon the war with very little idea either 
as to the merits of the cause they are defending, or the character of the enemy against 
whom they are going. 

Their appearance on the battle field is pathetic, and has stirred the blood and brought 
forth the sympathy of innumerable citizens of other lands, not even excluding England, 
against whom they fight. Whether their cause in the main be right or wrong, these 
Boers, as individuals, have attracted the deepest interest of open-minded and intelligent 
men and women throughout the world. 

The plan adopted by the Boers very soon showed itself to consist of 
simultaneous advance on the British territory at three or four different 
points. The first and most important attack, which absorbed by far the 
largest part of their forces, was made upon Natal. Another small force, 
estimated at various numbers from 3,000 to 5,000, was directed against 
Mafeking, the northernmost town in Cape Colony. 

Another large force at least 5,000 was sent to invade the very impor- 
tant town of Kimberly. Several other commandos crossed the border 
at several points between Kimberly and Basutoland, their object being 
to occupy some of the northern colonial towns, to reach and interfere 



*If the lecture is considered too long, this may be omitted. 



8 SOUTH AFRICA. 

with railway communications from the south, and to destroy the bridges 
across the rivers. 

*Even before the war began, it was known that the Boers were arranging their forces 
for the prompt and vigorous invasion of Natal. Accordingly the British authorities had 
been most earnestly urged to hasten sufficient troops to that colony to resist such an 
invasion. 

The Boers had three reasons, very probably, for concentrating their most powerful 
attack upon this region. In the first place Natal is rich, its farm lands are prosperous, 
and an enemy who should suddenly descend upon it would find it comparatively easy to 
support his soldiers by looting among the inhabitants. 

In the second place, Natal has a very small proportion of Boers among its inhabitants; 
accordingly the invading army would not feel that they were fighting against kinsmen or 
robbing fellow Afrikanders for the support of the troops. 

In the third case Natal is on the sea-coast, and if the final victory, as many of the 
Boers expected, should be theirs, they would be able to make a very strong claim for an 
extension of their territory to the sea-coast, This long cherished and deep-felt ambition 
would give them at once a status among the nations which they never can possibly reach 
while they exist even as an independent and self-governing community surrounded on 
every side by British territory. 

The British authorities who had not been idle although they had not- 
entered with any conspicuous vigor upon the task of gathering troops in 
South Africa, had sent a few regiments in response to the appeal of the 
Natal government to Durban, and these, under the command of a bril- 
liant Indian soldier, Sir George Stewart White, had been massed for the 
most part at the town of Ladysmith which is about 135 miles from the 
sea-port of Durban. 

The importance of Ladysmith arises from the fact that at this point 
two main roads from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, meet 
and become one road to Pietermaritzburg and Durban. If the General 
decided to prevent the junction of the Free Staters and the Transvaal 
it must be at this point. 

In order to do this he sent forward about 4,000 men to occupy the 
town of Dundee, about thirteen miles farther north. This section of his 
force was placed under General Sir William Penn Symons; who made a 
camp for it between Dundee and the railway junction at Glencoe. These 
were the men who first felt the full brunt of the force which the Trans- 
vaalers sent to Natal. 

The Boer's plan of campaign was very wisely conceived, and if only 
it had been as thoroughly carried out, the small British force might very 
speedily have been destroyed. The general plan arranged for was an 
invasion of Natal by three columns. The western column was to go 
from the Orange Free State, passing through Van Reenas Pass and the 
Tintwa Pass. 

This column consisted of Free State and Transvaal soldiers inter- 



*If the lecture is considered too long, this may be omitted. 



SOUTH AFRICA. 9 

mixed. The main center column was commanded by General Joubert 
himself, assisted by General Erasmus. It came through the pass known 
as Laing's Nek, almost under the shadow of sad Majuba Hill and 
through Mt. Prospect, where Sir George Colley had his camp before the 
fatal battle in which he fell, eighteen years ago. Another force under 
General Lucas Meyer invaded the Transvaal by a road crossing the 
border farther east. 

The two last columns were first concentrated on the town of New- 
castle, which they occupied, then they moved southward upon Glencoe. 
Their movements were rapid but not well timed, the result being that 
at the critical moment when their leading force came in contact with 
the garrison at Glencoe, it had not met with, and was unsupported by 
the larger force on which its movements depended for success. 

On October 20, 1899, General Yule announced from Dundee that 
the first battle of the war had been fought and won by the British. Close 
to a road east of the town of Dundee, there rises a steep hill at a dis- 
tance of more than 5,000 yards. The hill is variously named Dundee 
Hill, Smith's Hill and Talana Hill, and is nearly 1,000 feet in height 
irom the level of the camp. 

It was evidently the purpose of General Joubert to have one portion 
of his force approach on this side and occupy the hill, while he, coming 
on a straight road from the north, should attack the left flank of the 
British force. On Thursday afternoon and evening, October 19th, the 
British became aware that actual fighting had begun. Their pickets, 
thrown out at some distance from the town, discovered the movements 
of stealthy Boer skirmishers in the valley, and from time to time through 
the night, shots were interchanged. This began the war which will 
desolate so many homes in Africa and England, and which might so 
•easily have been avoided if the principles of the Peace Conference had 
been followed. 

No. 6. A Boer Scout. The Boer is trained to a mode of warfare 
in which scouting on swift horses is a prominent feature. He carries 
his belt of cartridges and a water bottle over his shoulder and wears his 
wide brimmed hat. The rope around the horse's neck is used for knee- 
haltering, which allows the horse to move slowly about, browsing on 
the grass during a time of rest. 

No. 7. Wounded Boer Prisoners. The pathos of this picture 
appears not only in the stooping figure of the man who is faint with 
pain and loss of blood, nor in the defiant look of one or two other Boers 
walking straight and scanning the distance, but in the contrast between 
their disheveled appearance and the martial dress and commanding 
bearing of the cavalry soldiers who have them in charge. 



io SOUTH AFRICA. 

No. 8. Armored Train Making a Reconnaissance. Armored trains 
have been used with more or less success quite extensively in South 
Africa. The train shown in the picture consists of a powerful engine, 
tender and two cars. The sides are over six feet high, fitted with loop 
holes for firing through; each car will carry sixty-four men. The train is 
covered with 24 -inch steel armor plate over double iron rails. 

No. 9. Wrecking an Armored Train. After Ladysmith was in- 
vested by the Boers, several attempts were made to keep up communica- 
tion with General George White. This scene represents the thrilling 
incident when an armored train attempting to run from Colenso to 
Ladysmith was attacked by the Boers. A shell from one of the large 
guns overturned one of the cars and brought the journey to a standstill. 

The British soldiers immediately leaped out, and under the courage- 
ous insipiration of Mr. Winston Churchill, a newspaper correspondent, 
proceeded to clear away the wreckage and allow the engine to proceed. 
This was done under a continuous hail of bullets from the Boers. A 
few. managed to jump on the engine and were carried safely to Colenso; 
the rest were either killed or taken prisoners. 

No. 10. The Charge of the Lancers. The battle of Elandslaagte 
ended in the gloom of settling night with the charge of the Lancers 
upon the routed Boers. The horrible scene is here depicted. The 
Bugler boy, who shot several Boers with his revolver, is shown in the 
midst. 

No. 11. British Attempt to Save the Guns at Battle of Tugela. 
During the battle of Tugela the shells of the English guns fell short, 
and in order to get within range they were run up closer to the Boers. 
The fire of the enemy was so severe that they were compelled to leave 
their guns. The picture represents the brave but unsuccessful attempt 
to save the guns. 

No. 12. A Sortie from Ladysmith. On November 8th and gth 
the Boers attacked Ladysmith in great force and a fierce battle was 
fought. This scene pictures to us the bursting of shells and the falling 
of brave men. The horror of war! 

Many such scenes have been enacted during the long siege of Lady- 
smith. 

No. 13. Death of Native Dispatch Carriers. The dispatches 
from Ladysmith and Kimberley were sent by the native carriers. Here 
one of them has been overtaken and brought down by the bullets of the 
mounted Boers. This is war, and as Gen. Sherman said, "War is 
hell." We will all doubtless be glad to turn from the subject of war to 
a more pleasant one. 

No. 14. Zulu Ladies' Reception. Zulu ladies love ornament and 
their ideas vary as to the style which suits individual tastes and features. 



SOUTH AFRICA. n 

They eat from one dish, which is the pot in which the food has been 
cooked. They use wooden spoons which they dip into the substantial 
porridge-like food prepared for them. The most common grain used 
since the beginning of this century is the American corn, which in South 
Africa is called "mealies." 

No. 15. General View of Johannesburg from Hospital Hill. 
No less remarkable than the buildings of Johannesburg are the num- 
bers of trees which in ten years have all been planted, and reached their 
present growth, on the formerly barren hillside. Most of the trees are 
what the South Africans call the "Blue Gums." This tree is the 
Eucalyptus and was brought originally from Australia. It has proved 
itself an incalculable blessing to many parts of South Africa. 

No. 16. Gold Mines at Johannesburg. On the bare veldt of 
prairie, where hardly even grass would grow, these mines have been 
opened to reach the marvelous deposits beneath the surface. It runs 
for about thirty miles, and will take about fifty years ere it is exhausted. 
The mines from the first have needed much capital, high intelligence 
and great organization for their successful working. 

No. 17. Native Compound at Kimberley Diamond Mines. To 
prevent the stealing of diamonds and the lawless degradation of the 
native miners who come in thousands to Kimberley from all over South 
Africa, the Compound system has been established. Each native con- 
tracts to serve the company for a definite period at a certain rate of 
wages. 

During his engagement he lives within the Compound, where he 
has stores, a hospital, a school, a church, plenty of room for exercise, 
and above all no opportunity to buy drink. The entire space is covered 
with wire netting to prevent the workers from escaping and from throw- 
ing diamonds out of the Compound into the hands of accomplices 
outside. 

No. 18. Old Workings, Kimberley Diamond Mines. The dia- 
monds are found in a grayish soil called blue clay. Originally each 
miner dug at his own little claim, the deeper they dug the more claims 
fell in upon one another, necessitating at last the amalgamation of 
many claims into a few large mines. The wires stretching from the 
edge carry little buckets which run backwards and forwards from the 
bottom of the mine to the top. In these were carried the precious blue 
clay, which was exposed to the air and sun before being conveyed to 
the sifting rooms. 

No. 19. A Zulu Militarv Review. Zulu regiments keep up their 
courage and their esprit de corps by frequent war dances and military 
reviews. On these occasions, to the sound of low voices, sometimes a 
thundering chant, they stamp with their feet in rythmic movement on 



12 SOUTH AFRICA. 

the ground. At intervals individual soldiers leap out into the front and 
proceed to go through a mimic fight, displaying their own courage and 
portraying the movements and feints and thrusts by means of which 
they put their enemies to death. A sudden scream will announce that 
the enemy is dead. The dancers in their frenzy sometimes foam at 
the mouth, their features become distorted, their voices hoarse and un- 
earthly. The scene is weird, savage, terrific. 

No. 20. Native Wizard. This may be the most powerful man in 
his tribe, whom even the chief may fear. He knows too much; he 
knows the meanings of his bones and the secret spells by which disease 
and disaster may be hurled against the foe. He can "smell out" 
criminals who are generally enemies of the chief or himself and who are 
done to death at his word. He deals in drugs and poisons. In some 
tribes the wizard and doctor is allowed to wear the skin of certain 
animals. 

No. 2:. Soldiers' Graves. This lonely little graveyard marks the 
resting place of soldiers who fell in the terrible war against the Macebele 
under the Chief Lobengula in July and August, 1894. This war was 
waged by the British South Africa Chartered Company, and resulted in 
the destruction of the most bloody-thirsty organization in - South Africa. 

No. 22. Native Kraal. The cattle wander freely about the 
village, the fowls are at home inside and outside the house. The 
ground is bare, the entire scenery at such a spot as this is unlovely and 
-depressing. 

No. 23. Building a Zulu Homestead. This picture gives an 
animated idea of the process of building a Zulu hut. The strong young 
branches of trees are bent in a semi circle and intertwined with others 
crossing them transversely. This will be covered very probably with 
clay and grass mixed, and the whole at last thatched over with grass 
brought in large bundles on the women's backs. 

No. 24. Waiting for the Vultures. Native warfare has three 
-customs which civilized nations now abjure. They give no quarter, 
•they make captives and slaves of the young, and they leave the dead 
unburied. This gruesome picture shows one portion of a native battle- 
field after the battle. 

No. 25. Chief's Kraal Near Rorke's Drift, Zululand. The 
Kraal of a village or an individual is strictly the cattle pen, but the 
-word is often applied to a little settlement or group of native huts. 
Each race fashions its huts in a peculiar way; the Zulu huts are round, 
as in this picture, which represents the little village gathered around its 
kraal on the side of a hill which is without verdure or foliage of any 
kind. A sparse, stubby grass grows here and there, the only nourish- 
ment of the cattle, which therefore have to be taken by herds daily to 



SOUTH AFRICA. i S 

greener pastures. Rorke's Drift is a ford near which one of the worst, 
battles took place in the war against the Zulus. 

No. 26. A Family Group. The Zulu hut has a door so low that 
adults only enter it by going on their knees and crouching very low. 
The women carry the water in an earthen vessel on their heads, and 
carry their babies on their backs in a loose skin tied around their 
shoulders. The commonest ornaments of young and old are beads 
worn around the neck and ankles. 

No. 27. Inside the House. This is an interior of a hut of unusual 
size. Its roof is upheld by strong beams, the fireplace is in the center,, 
without a chimney, the smoke issuing simply through a hole in the roof. 
The furniture consists of two or three skins, earthenware pots, jars, 
sacks of corn, and weapons of war. The native knows and understands 
little else till the missionary and trader arrive. 

No. 28. Going to Work. The diamond miners are here running 
on the trolley through the air. This mode of descent is now only 
employed in what they call the open working mines. 

No. 29. Going Home from the Mines. These two Bechuanas 
have been working at Kimberley or Johannesburg, have received their 
pay in the golden coin of the British realm, and are traveling on their 
road from 100 to 400 miles to their distant home. They carry a few 
trophies purchased in the great city, and reckon themselves as they 
approach their own town among the heroes and wise men of their tribe. 

No. 30. Zulus Defying the Lightning. Among the curious 
superstitions of South African natives we must place that of making the 
rain and the one depicted in this scene of defying the lightning. 
Primitive men think of nature as standing in a closer relation to human 
beings than we can conceive. When an eclipse occurs they beat their 
drums and raise their war shouts to frighten the evil spirit away; so 
here, when the lightning flashes and the thunder roars, the warriors 
take their shields and spears and defy the powers that threaten them. 

No. 31. Sifting the Gravel for Diamonds — Kimberley Mines. 
The work of separating the diamonds from the gravel in which they are 
found requires an experienced eye and a quick hand. The large gravel 
is first taken out by a screen, the remaining portion spread evenly and 
thinly by a dextrous motion of the hand and the diamonds are picked 
out one by one, all under the keen eye of the foreman. Woe unto 
the man who fails to get every gem, however small, from the portion 
placed before him. 

No. 32. De Beer's Compound at Kimberley. The De Beer's 
Company is the one which has swallowed up all the other diamond 
mining companies and whose directors control the diamond markets of 
the world. This compound is large and well appointed. It has a 



i 4 SOUTH AFRICA. 

bathing pool in the center. The hospital is on the left. The outlook 
tower enables watchmen to scan the whole compound and detect some 
of the attempts at diamond stealing which are being constantly made. 

No. 33. Cape Town. Cape Town is famous for the beauty of its 
situation. In the distance is Table Mountain, on which frequently a 
mist settles, locally called the Table Cloth. The suburbs of the city 
• surround the base of the mountain. The city, being in a hollow, is apt 
in the hot season to be very hot. On the whole the climate is good. 
This is one of the richest spots in the world for grape culture. 

No. 34. The Home of Cecil Rhodes. Groote Schuur is the name 
of Mr. Rhodes' house at Rondebosch, near Cape Town. It is a 
beautiful spot, on which he has spent much money. In the grounds he 
has a menagerie of wild animals which is much visited by the people 
of Cape Town. The house is in the old Dutch style. 

No. 35. Mr. Rhodes' Library at Groote Schuur. Passing inside 
we have a view in the Library Room. Here among the many volumes 
collected one might spend many a pleasant and profitable hour. 

No. 36. Mr. Rhodes' Fapm. Mr. Rhodes' second home in Africa 
is about 1,400 miles from Cape Town. The picture represents the house 
which he has built on his farm among the Matoppe Hills. He has 
adapted the native hut style to the European requirements by connect- 
ing the huts with one another. 

No. 37. Olive Schreiner. This is the maiden name of the most 
famous South African author. She is extremely short in stature, a 
woman of very warm heart, impulsive, with great power of literary 
expression and noble moral instincts. She has espoused the cause of 
the Boers with the utmost passion, mainly because she believes that 
the capitalists, with Mr. Rhodes at their head, have been the cause of 
the troubles which led to the war. She married a Mr. Cronwright. 
They are now known as Mr. and Mrs. Cronwright Schreiner. 

No. 38. Street in Johannesburg. The gold city of Johannesburg 
with surprising rapidity became a city of stately buildings and complete 
civic organization. This was due to the high standing and intelligence 
of the majority of men who settled in it and built it up. No city in 
South Africa has a higher class of Europeans among its population. 

No. 39. Going to Market. In South Africa the historic mode of 
traveling has been by ox wagon. The large wagon on four wheels is 
dragged slowly at the rate of ten to twenty miles a day by a team of 
from ten to fourteen oxen. This mode of traveling is being rapidly dis- 
placed in many parts by railways and by Cape carts drawn by horses or 
mules. 



SOUTH AFRICA. 15 

No. 40. Native Miners and White Overseer. These men are 
-working in connection with what is called the "tipping ground" at the 
diamond mines, Kimberley. 

No. 41. A South African Pineapple Field. The northern end of 
the country is within the tropics, the tropic of Capricorn running across 
it. The semi-tropical climate is healthy and agreeable. We have here 
a fine view of a Pineapple field. 

No. 42. Chief Teteluki — Natal. Not a bird of Paradise — a Zulu 
Warrior — the professional rapine and slaughter maker of South Africa. 

No. 43. Soldiers' Monument. This monument was erected at 
Pietermaritzburg in Natal, in memory of the Natal colonial soldiers 
who fell in the horrible massacre of Isandhlwana during the Zulu war. 

No. 44. Dutch Boers Outspanned. The span of oxen has been 
taken out and placed within the enclosure for the night. The Boer 
travelers have lit their fire and are cooking their evening meal. They 
are tall, straight, powerful men, accustomed to life in the open air, to 
physical exposure; some will sleep within the wagon, and some on the 
ground beneath it with their guns always within reach. 

No. 45. Zulu Kraal. This picture shows a circle of Zulu huts 
placed around the Kraal, or cattle pen. The pen is made of the smaller 
branches of trees trimmed, stuck in the ground, and bound together 
near the top, forming a strong hedge. Cattle are, of course, the princi- 
pal farm wealth amongst the Zulus. 

No. 46. Diamond Field Claims on De Beer's Farm in 1869. 
Best view now possible of the scene where Cecil J. Rhodes, as a youth 
of twenty, began work on his claim. The spot is now occupied by 
extensive buildings and operations of the De Beers Mining Co. 

No. 47. Scene on an Ostrich Farm. Ostriches are here kept for 
the sake of obtaining their feathers for European and American markets. 

No. 48. Durban — Road to the Berea. The beautiful city of 
Durban is celebrated especially for the fashionable district called Berea. 

No. 49. House of Parliament — Cape Town. The House of Parlia- 
ment at Cape Town will compare favorably in beauty, architecture, 
artistic surroundings and utility, with the capitols of many states. 
Magnificent paved driveways are lined with shrubbery and flowers. 
Monuments of noted Englishmen, and especially those who have been 
prominent in local affairs, are numerous and beautiful. 

No. 50. A Bridge on the Road at Mombray. On the road to 
Mombray, a pretty suburb of Cape Town, we pass over the bridge 
shown in the picture. There are many of these beautiful spots of 
natural scenery in and around Cape Town. 



16 SOUTH AFRICA. 

No. 51. Zulu Warriors, Uncivilized. Zulus as a people have 
learned to live for war. Their chief, Chaka, was the first to drill his 
soldiers in a systematic way, and thus made them practically invincible. 
They use either the "isighi, " which is a spear consisting of a long 
wooden handle with an armored lancet-shaped point at one end; or the 
"knobkeerie," a weapon held in the right hand. 

In addition each man carries a shield. In actual battle the shield is 
larger than those in this picture, so large as to hide a man as he 
crouches behind it on the ground. The shield is made of dried skin 
stretched around a frame of wood. The picture shows part of a Zulu 
Regiment with its strange headgear and shields and spears, crouching 
on the ground with only their commander standing in front. 

No. 52. Zulu Warriors, Civilized. The second shows the same 
class of men after they have come under the training of British officers. 
They are armed with rifles and bayonets, and wear the light and useful 
clothing of the native volunteers. 

No. 53. The Tugela River in Zululand. This river, before it 
enters Zululand, flows near Colenso, and has been the scene of the 
fierce struggle between General Buller and the Boer Army. 

No. 54. Mica Deposits in a Donga. An enormous deposit of Mica 
is made here by the continuous flow of water which has gradually worn 
the rocks and formed this donga or narrow chasm. 

No. 55. Mr. Chamberlain and President Kruger with the 
English and Boer Flags. Joseph Chamberlain, the British colonial 
secretary, and Oom Paul, president of the Transvaal Republic, are the 
two persons who are responsible for putting to the arbitratment of the 
sword a question that might have been settled by diplomacy. Some 
people would call the president of the Transvaal Republic a religious 
fanatic. Be that as it may~he makes constant use of scriptural quota- 
tion in dealing with his own people and with his enemies as well. He 
most certainly has a strong personality and has united and cemented 
his people for powerful and effective action. 

Standing full six feet and one inch in heighth, with broad back and 
shoulders, he tips the scales at two hundred and twenty pounds. He is 
in his 75th year, but still full of vigor both mental and physical. 

Let us hope that the great contest now raging in South Africa will 
be settled in the way that will be best for the onward progress of the 
world. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 920 718 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 920" 718 






